Star Trek Sequel: Abrams Talks 3D and Cumberbatch

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Abrams on why the film will be converted into 3D and why he cast Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch.

By Eric Goldman

J.J. Abrams was at FOX's portion of the TCA (Television Critics Association) press tour today to promote his new TV series, Alcatraz. But naturally, several of us also had questions about the new Star Trek sequel he's directing – which Abrams revealed is going into production this coming Thursday.

It's been announced the new Trek film will be released in 3D, but it will be post-converted. Abrams explained, " We're shooting on film, and the reason for that is I wanted to shoot for anamorphic, and you can't shoot 3D anamorphic."

Amusingly, someone asked Abrams if he'd done tests to see how his semi-infamous lens flares would look in converted 3D, to which he replied, "I've had some people make fun of me about that!"

He then said, "We've done some tests. Not only lens flare tests, but we've done 3D tests and stuff. We actually converted a bunch of the original movie, which looked really good. So that was the thing that made me feel like maybe that would be okay. But I didn't want to shoot the movie digitally. I didn't want to shoot it spherically. It will be converted, for those who want to see it, in 3D. But I wanted to match the look of the first one and shoot it anamorphically."

Abrams noted, "I did not fight for the 3D. It's something that the studio wanted to do and I didn't want to do it. And then when I saw the first movie converted in sections, I thought it actually looked really cool. So I was okay with their doing it, as long as I could shoot the movie the way I wanted to in anamorphic film. So those who want to see it in 3D – which looked pretty cool – they can do it. And for those who want to see it in 2D, they can do that too."

This past week, Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch was announced as joining the Trek sequel. I asked Abrams what it was about Cumberbatch that got him the role, besides his amazing name, and Abrams joked, "We were just looking for someone with the most awesome name in history. That was the casting call: 'Most Awesome Name in History, Ever.' And Benedict Cumberbatch showed up. We were like, 'You're cast!'"

Abrams is famously secretive about his projects. Some reports have been calling Cumberbatch the villain of the new Star Trek film (including some speculation about whether he's playing Khan or not). But when Abrams was asked today why he felt Cumberbatch was the right guy to play the film's villain, he replied, "Who said he's our villain?"

While he wouldn't give any details on Cumberbatch's role, he went on to say, "Honestly, he's just an incredible actor. If you've seen the work in Sherlock, he's just got incredible skills. He's an amazing stage actor. Did an amazing Frankenstein. He's brilliant. You try to cast people that are great. We got lucky. I just loved his work and thought that he was perfect for what we needed."

While Leonard Nimoy appeared in Abrams' first Trek film, neither he nor any of the original cast will in the sequel. Commenting on why that is, Abrams said, "It was just sort of what the story of the movie required. I think that with everything, you respond to what you're trying to do; what story you're trying to tell."